Social Determinants of Health

Social determinants of health

Social determinants of Health
The various determinants of health include the social, economic and environmental factors which
help in determining the status of health of populations. The various social determinants of health
affects the HIV infection and people’s ability to seeking the treatment of HIV with support and
care (Parker, et al., 2000). the determinants of health include the status of income and social,
education and literacy, conditions of employment, social environments, healthy child
development, and the various health services with culture and gender. Thailand is considered the
first country which documented HIV epidemics. The situation of HIV/AIDS in Thailand is
monitored by the public health and the group of health care planning which are the expert
groups. It is studies that almost 30000 new infections continue occurring every year. HIV
infections can be prevented by the change in behavior (Commission on Social Determinants of
Health, 2008). In Australia, HIV transmission continue to overwhelm with the sexual contact
between men. In Australia, the prevention of HIV infection is the antiretroviral treatment helps in
slowing down the progression of AIDS.
The situation of HIV/AIDS in Australia and Thailand will be discussed and the comparison of
these two countries will be done which impacts the gender and health care system on sex
workers. HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus and it acts as a virus which attacks the
body’s natural defense against disease and it is known as immune system. In Australia, it is
analyzed that the people who are living with HIV are 27,545 and in the world the count is 36.7
million. AIDS is the acquired immune deficiency syndrome that happens in immune system of a
person and severely damaged by HIV (Commission on Social Determinants of Health, 2008). In
Australia, there were almost 20,922 infections which were attributed in male-to-male sex
exposure and 605 were injected because of the use of drugs and 6245 with heterosexual sex.
In Thailand, 480,000 people are living with HIV and almost 1.1% are adult HIV prevalence. It is
analyzed that Thailand is the highest HIV prevalence’s and almost 9% of the region people are
living with HIV. It is estimated that around 18,000 people had died with the illness of AIDS. In
Thailand epidemic of HIV in population which is most affected are the men who have sex with
men, transgender, and sex workers. HIV prevention programs are helping in declining HIV
prevalence in Thailand. In 2018, new infections were detected in Thailand and it happened
because of unprotected sex (Knodel and Im-Em, 2004). It is analyzed that in Thailand, the HIV

prevalence is more among male sex workers than female sex workers. Among 147,000 sex
workers in Thailand, there were approx. 1% HIV prevalence in female sex workers and almost
12% in the male sex workers. In the world, the most risker group in sex workers is transgender
people with HIV prevalence.
National AIDS strategy has provided the roadmap to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030 as the
threat of public health. Ministry of public health has increased its budget for preparing and
implementing the strategies for ending AIDS. It is necessary to focus on innovative and new
intersectional strategies for reaching young people and the affected population (Labonté and
Schrecker, 2007). In Thailand, the sex work pattern is shifted from direst commercial
establishment to indirect venues and non-venue based settings. It is analyzed that the diagnosis
rate of HIV is 26.9 for males and females are 8.4.
In Australia, the common of sex workers are female and it is underestimated the sex workers'
number of men and transgender. It is identified that male and transgender sex workers keep their
identity secret and they work as private escorts. In Australia, HIV infections have occurred
because men who have sex with men are almost 68%, 25% occurred due to heterosexual contact,
3% because of injected drug use and other 7% were undetermined.
In Australia, there are almost 20,000 people who are working as sex workers. It is analyzed that
the risk of HIV is more on women and girls because of unequal status of economic, cultural and
social in society. There is lack of accessing for health services for women. There are barrier to
access to health services.
In the HIV transmission, the Australian and Thailand sex workers are at particular risk. Sex
workers from different regions share the common share factors which make them vulnerability to
HIV transmission. The factors are social and legal factors as the sex workers can stigmatized,
marginalized and criminalized in the society where they live. It helps in contributing to the
vulnerable to HIV. In some countries, there are some legal regulations for sex workers but laws
are unable to protect sex workers. The lack of legislation and policies is there for protecting sex
workers as they have a risk of violence. Sex workers in Australia and Thailand are rising. They
act as bridge population which transmits HIV between the population and sex workers. It is
detected that the male clients of sex are having high HIV prevalence (Sharpe, et al., 2012). There